AARON KOPP
Aaron Kopp is an award-winning filmmaker and national Emmy-nominated cinematographer who grew up in the Kingdom of Swaziland. Aaron shot and co-produced the Academy Award-winning documentary about acid attacks in Pakistan, SAVING FACE. He was also cinematographer for the Sundance Audience Award winner and Academy Award nominated film, THE HUNTING GROUND, about sexual assault on college campuses. He has worked across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, North America, and the South Pacific on films for HBO, Netflix Originals, National Geographic, Discovery, UK Channel4, CBS, CNN, and PBS. Aaron was awarded grants from the MacArthur Foundation and the Doha Film Institute for his feature directorial debut, LIYANA, which won Best Documentary at the LA Film Festival, and the jury award for Artistic Bravery at the Durban International Film Festival.

Director’s statement
I grew up in Swaziland and will always consider it my home. In part, this film is a love letter to my childhood in that beautiful African Kingdom. We’ve had the pleasure of knowing the children in the film for many years. Zweli was the one who initially sparked our inspiration for the film’s eventual form. We met when he was 5 years old and he was already quite a raconteur. He loved using “delicious” words in an imaginative way. During our research period for the film, we talked to the children about their early life before they came to the orphan home and quickly realized that asking them to revisit traumatic memories in front of a camera was not the path we wished to take. Films about the suffering of Africans in which the audience is led to feel pity or guilt have been made before. In contrast, LIYANA gives our young storytellers the stage and allows them to take charge of the narrative. By highlighting the unique perspectives of one of the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable populations, we believe we can challenge dehumanizing stereotypes and transform beliefs. In preproduction I spent time reading about creative art therapies as well as traditional stories in Swaziland. It soon it became clear that the use of a fictional character, created by the children, could serve as a unique window into their memories and emotions, while still ensuring some privacy. As soon as we decided on this approach, we contacted South African storyteller and author, Gcina Mhlophe. I first saw her on stage when I was a teenager and remember being transfixed by her performance. We knew she would be the perfect guide for the children in their creative process. In LIYANA, we hope the audience will be swept away by the children's imaginations, in the same way that we were. The process of filming was exciting, because each day the children came up with weird and wonderful ideas that moved the story forward. Every time we interviewed Sibusiso we would have to end the interview only because our camera batteries died, or because the light was gone, but never because he was out of ideas.

AMANDA KOPP
Amanda Kopp is an award-winning photographer and artist. She was producer and cinematographer for the short film, LIKHAYA, which won a Golden Palm, People’s Choice, and Best Documentary awards at international festivals. She also filmed for the Sundance 2015 premiered film, THE HUNTING GROUND. Amanda’s photographic work has been published in the UK, US, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Pakistan, and Italy. Her photographs won the Grand Prize in the Photo District News Top Knots photography competition. She has traveled to Swaziland regularly over the past 14 years and directed her first feature length film, LIYANA, with funds from Shine Global and Fork Films.

Director’s statement
I met this talented group of children in Swaziland in 2003. They have inspired my artwork since then. In my painting, drawing, and photography, I have explored visions of their imaginations and dreams. It was during this time that we also began research for the film that would become LIYANA. The first instinct regarding visual representation of the children’s fictional story was to simply animate the children’s own drawings. We decided instead to create an immersive animated world that could be truer to what exists in our young storytellers’ minds. We knew we needed someone who could imbue our heroic Liyana with the beauty and personality she deserved. After searching far and wide, I finally encountered an interview with Nigerian illustrator and animator, Shofela Coker. It was not just his obvious talent, but also heart and passion that made him the perfect partner. For more than two years Shof and his small team of artists devoted an outrageous number of hours working with us to bring the children’s story to life. It was also an honor to work with the brilliant South African composer, Philip Miller. He immediately understood our vision for the combination of western and traditional Swazi instrumentation. We worked with him in Swaziland to record with musicians and a variety of vocalists. We could not be more proud of the score, both in process and end result. It was important to me that we approach the story as artists, not limited by a genre. This freed us to follow the story wherever it led. The documentary scenes are often lyrical and at times even dip into fantasy. And although the fictional and real-life stories are set against a backdrop of devastation caused by HIV/AIDS, this was not the children’s primary focus, nor ours. This film is meant to enchant and entertain. At its heart the film is a celebration of the transformative power of storytelling.